


Pep Talks

by Marsalias



Category: Danny Phantom, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Danny is a world hopper courtesy of Clockwork, Gen, Young Yagi Toshinori | All Might
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:53:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 10,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28043487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marsalias/pseuds/Marsalias
Summary: Tumblr Prompt: Both Danny and Clockwork know (Danny from experience, Clockwork because he can see it) how much knowing someone believes in you can lift you up. And the blonde quirkless boy who will one day carry the world on his shoulders certainly needs that lift right now.  (Toshi gets a little pep-talk from an old ghost. - Not that he knows that last part)
Comments: 133
Kudos: 627





	1. Chapter 1

This world was strange, Danny decided. Almost everyone was born with the seed of their ghost already in them and nurtured it throughout their lives, and yet they all passed beyond the veil without so much as a whisper of fuss. 

Although his world would probably seem equally strange to these people. Or maybe it would just seem _archaic._ According to the reading he’d done before Clockwork sent him here, ‘quirks’ hadn’t always been a thing. 

And part of the weirdness Danny was experiencing could be because he was in this world’s version of _Japan._

Danny stopped in front of the school building. He was probably short enough to pass for a member of the youngest grade, but, thankfully for his pride, he was to be joining the second years. The equivalent of eighth grade. 

Again, it was a bit of a blow, but becoming half-ghost had stopped his aging before he’d ever even stepped foot into a high school. So. At least it was sort of accurate. 

He brought his transfer paperwork to the office and had his uniform inspected. When that was done, he was taken up to classroom 2B. 

New students worked a lot differently in Japan. He couldn’t recall a single new student being made to introduce themselves like this when he was in middle or high school. 

“Ah, now,” said the teacher, making a quelling motion with their hand, “does anyone have any questions for Fenton-san?”

“What’s your quirk?” asked an excitable girl, waving her hand. 

“I can sense when people are near me,” said Danny, naming the power that would be most difficult for him to hide. “When someone approaches, my body temperature drops. It seems to drop more for strong people.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “It isn’t super impressive, I know.” But it would explain the puff of mist from his ghost sense. How he’d never been caught back home escaped him.

It was subtle, but everyone’s eyes flicked towards a blonde boy who was sitting in the corner. The boy’s hands tightened on the edges of his desk, showcasing the scuffs on his knuckles. Danny let his eyes find the boy’s face. 

Oh, that was the one. The one who needed just a tiny push to set this world on a better path. Danny smiled, and walked to his seat as directed. 

.

“Hi! Yagi-san, right?” he asked, brightly. “Is it okay if I sit here?”

“Uh,” said the boy, obviously surprised. “Sure. I guess.”

“Okay,” said Danny, setting down his tray. “I just don’t want to displace your friends or anything.”

Yagi grimaced. “Yeah. Friends,” he muttered. “Er, Fenton-san, you seem really nice and all, but... If you hang out with me, people will pick on you.”

“Eh? Why?” asked Danny. Nothing about Yagi struck Danny as particularly bully-able. He was tall, fit, and good looking. Much skinnier than Dash had been, but in Danny’s book that was a plus. Danny had no doubt that Clockwork’s prediction about his future would come to pass.

“Because I’m quirkless.”

“So? Twenty percent of everyone is quirkless.”

“Not in Japan,” said Yagi. If he’d been using a fork, Danny would have expected him to stab something. As it was, they both had chopsticks. 

“My sister’s quirkless,” said Danny. “She’s going to be a psychologist.” He carefully picked up a clump of rice. 

“Oh,” said Yagi. “That’s nice.” He looked a little less defensive, now. 

“I don’t think I’d want to be friends with anyone who’d be mean to her.”

Yagi nodded, a small amount of doubt still on his face. 

“Anyway,” continued Danny. “I really liked what you said in history class, about symbols! I don’t know if I really subscribe to the great man theory of history, myself, but there’s something to be said for good examples.”

.

Alright. That hadn’t been so bad for the first day. Even if it was in a different language, Danny had learned most of this before, and it wasn’t like he was maintaining grades for anything but his cover. 

He’d leave in three months. In four, Yagi Toshinori would meet Shimura Nana for the first time. If Danny did his job right...

Well. Only time would tell what kind of symbol Yagi would become. 


	2. Chapter 2

Izuku’s hands trembled. Which was. A thing. Had been a thing for a while, now, actually. Since the sports festival. 

The fight against Muscular had made it worse. 

Not that he regretted saving Kouda or anything! The opposite, really! It was just... He wished he had found some way to do it without shattering his arms. Again. 

( _Something dark within him whispered, go for his eyes. The only muscles there are in the iris, and clearly they aren’t enough. Take the prosthetic and slam it into-_ )

( _No, he had said back, unwilling to go that far. Unwilling to mutilate another human being to that extent, even a murderer._ )

He winced internally, and rubbed his palm with his opposite hand. He wondered if All Might, if Toshinori-san, ever thought like this about All for One. 

Probably. 

“-Kamino,” said someone passing behind the bench, taking quietly to the person they were walking with. “It’s such a shame.”

“I know. I just can’t believe he’s _gone-”_

This time, Izuku’s wince was external. Ever since the Kamino Ward incident, he’d been overhearing conversations like that one. More than once, he’d been on the receiving end of a conversation like that one. Especially if he was out in public and in his UA uniform. 

Which he wasn’t right now. He was in a low-key All Might brand hoodie. For some reason, he’d been reluctant to wear the more... _obvious_ ones anywhere Toshinori-san could see him. That’d just be _weird,_ right?

A pair of feet come into Izuku’s line of sight, and he looks up, surprised, to see a Caucasian boy standing in front of him. The boy has black hair and blue eyes almost bright enough to rival All Might’s. He is, perhaps, a year or two younger than Izuku. 

“Hi,” said the boy, waving. “Are you okay?” he asked in flawless and unaccented Japanese. 

“Uh,” said Izuku. “Y-yeah! I’m fine. Why?” 

“You looked kind of upset,” said the boy. “Especially when those two girls walked by behind you.” He tilted his head. “Want to talk about it? My sister says that sometimes it helps. She’s studying to be a psychologist.”

“I don’t know...” said Izuku. 

“That’s okay,” said the boy, shrugging. He sat down on the bench next to Izuku, a thick stream of mist emerging from his mouth as he did so. He seemed unbothered by this. “We could talk about something else. Distractions are good, too.”

Izuku opened his mouth. Closed it. Frowned. Well, if there was anything he was good at, it was chasing people off.

“Oh,” said the boy. “I can sense quirks. When someone with a quirk gets close to me, my body temperature drops.” He shrugged. “You dropped my body temperature a lot. Your quirk is really strong.”

Izuku hunched his shoulders, too distracted by the last sentence to even start analyzing the boy’s (really cool!) quirk. ‘His’ quirk. If All Might had still had it at Kamino, would things have gone better? Would he still be able to do hero work?

How much had Izuku taken from him?

“I bet a lot of people tell you that, though.”

Izuku startled. Somehow, he’d forgotten the boy was even there. 

“It’s like...” The boy trailed off, staring upward. “It’s like, sometimes, people don’t see each other. They only see quirks. Strong quirks, weak quirks, villainous quirks, heroic quirks. No quirk. It’s silly, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean?” asked Izuku. “Are you saying quirks don’t matter?” The first fourteen years of his life would like to disagree.

“No,” said the boy. “They matter a lot. Saying they didn’t would be like saying money doesn’t matter, or social status doesn’t matter. But they’re not everything. They’re not even the most _important_ thing.” The boy leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees and resting his chin on his interlocked fingers. “The most important thing is what you do with what you’ve got. If someone has a quirk that can save thousands of lives, but they don’t use it, they can’t say they’re better than someone who has no quirk but saves someone anyway, don’t you think? Even if it’s just one person.”

Izuku was flabbergasted, because that speech was _far_ too tailored to him to random. 

“I mean, my sister is quirkless,” continued the boy. “Ha, you probably don’t want to hear about my family, when you’ve got your own things to worry about. Anyway, even if everyone is telling you that you have to use your quirk in one way, or they’re heaping all these expectations on you, all that matters is what you decide to do with it. Or yourself. Like, there’s this one astrophysicist I read about that has this really wild quirk that _ev_ erybody said meant she _had_ to go into manufacturing, but she didn’t want to, and she had the brains for physics, so-”

Izuku listened to the boy ramble. It was actually kind of soothing. Okay. He needed to dial back his paranoia. 

“-does that make sense?” finished the boy.

“Y-yeah,” said Izuku. “But, um. What was bothering me, it wasn’t my quirk.” This would be fine, right? It wasn’t like he’d actually say he was talking about All Might. “It was... I have a friend, and he’s sick, but... Everyone is talking about him like he’s already dead, and he’s _not_. What they said, it reminded me of that. It’s just... frustrating.”

“Yikes,” said the boy. “I don’t really have any advice for that. It’s hard to change other people’s minds.” The boy sighed, and the sound felt much older than it had any right to be. 

“ _Daniel Fenton?”_

Izuku whipped around at the sound of Toshinori-san’s voice. The skeletal man was standing several feet to the right of the bench and had dropped one of the two ice cream cones he had been holding. 

“Oops,” said the boy, on the other side of Izuku. “Guess I stayed a bit too long.”

Despite his injuries, Toshinori was at Izuku’s side in an instant, pulling him off the bench and pushing himself between Izuku and the boy. Daniel? Fenton?

The boy had jumped away as well, and was regarding Toshinori-san with something between consternation and amusement. 

“Who are you?” demanded All Might. “Why do you look like that?”

“Hey,” said the boy, “that’s kind of rude, don’t you think, Toshinori-kun? You’re the one that said my name.”

“Daniel Fenton is my age,” said All Might, glaring, his hand tightening around Izuku’s wrist. Izuku activated just the barest percentage of One for All, readying himself for a fight. “What are you playing at?”

“Well, if you’re going to be technical about it, I’m _way_ older.” He held up his hands. “I don’t mean any harm. Really. Anyway, as long as I don’t have to beat around the bush, Midoriya-san, One for All didn’t clear this beach. One for All didn’t save Bakugo-san, or Asui-san, or Kouda-kun. One for All certainly didn’t convince this idiot to take care of himself, even a little bit. That was _all_ you.” He pointed at Izuku.

... Were those finger guns? Was this guy seriously throwing finger guns at him?

Scratch that, who was this guy and how did he know so much?!

“Are you working for All for One?” demanded All Might. 

“Gross. No. Never even met the guy.”

“Then how do you have two quirk?” asked Izuku. “Longevity, and whatever you did with the mist.”

The boy shrugged, careful to keep his hands half raised and obvious about it. “The guy I _actually_ work for can do time travel. ‘Work for’ is kind of a weird way to put it, though. It’s more like, he’s my mentor? Same sort of set up as you guys have.”

“ _Time_ travel?” exclaimed Izuku. He’d never heard of a time travel quirk before. 

“I mean, there’s a reason for that,” said the boy, and Izuku blushed as he realized he’d spoken out loud. “And you will. It was really nice talking to you, Midoriya-san! And it was great seeing you again, Toshinori-kun. But I’m going to be picked up any se-”

The boy vanished. 

“Um,” said Izuku after several long seconds, “All Might? Who was that?”

“I...” said Toshinori. “You know what? That’s a _great_ question.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't think I'd turn this into a series (much less one with three parts). I don't know if I'll do any more of this, but I'll leave it open ended for now.

“Wait, wait, wait,” said Gran, holding up his hand. “ _What_ did you say his name was?”

“Danny Fenton,” repeated Toshinori. 

Gran glared at him. As this was Gran Torino’s usual expression, Izuku was largely unperturbed, although Toshinori was starting to sweat. 

“I must be losing my mind,” said Gran, finally. “Stay here.”

Gran stepped away from the table (and the large plate of taiyaki) and jetted up the stairs. A series of loud thumps echoed down them.

“Do you need help?” called Izuku.

“When I need help, I’ll ask for it!” shouted Gran. “Zygote...” He devolved into incomprehensible (but loud) muttering. 

Toshinori swallowed. 

“Found it!” yelled Gran, before vaulting back down the stairs. He slammed a heavy book down on the table. 

“A photo album?” asked Izuku.

“Yeah. Nana used to make ‘em,” said Gran, gruffly. “This one’s from back when we were in high school. Frickin’ high school...” He opened the book. “God, we were brats.”

“You went to UA, too?” asked Izuku. 

“Better believe it,” said Gran. “This was... Wasn’t quite so rigorous back then. No summer training camps or whatever. We just- Hell. When we were third years, the two of us got put in charge of mentoring some first years. Do they still have that program?”

“I haven’t heard of it,” said Izuku. 

“All those internships probably get in the way,” said Gran. “Anyway, most of ‘em were punks, didn’t really want anything to do with us or the mentorship program, but there was this one Gen Ed kid...” He trailed off, and spun the book around to face Izuku and Toshinori, then he jabbed his finger down on one of the pictures. “Here. This guy.”

“That’s him!” exclaimed Izuku, eyes round as he gazed down at Danny Fenton sandwiched between a young Nana and Gran Torino. In an old UA uniform, nonetheless.

“How...” said Toshinori, trailing off. 

“Beats me,” said Gran. “But that’s Danny Fenton. Nana liked him, too. Said he helped her out with a rough spot when I was doing my internship. Someone she knew died and...” Gran growled. “I don’t know the details. It’s been too long.”

“What did he say his quirk was?” asked Toshinori. 

“Minor temperature control, I think,” said Gran. “No, ice powers. That’s it. Nothing too flashy, though, not like your friend. Had to transfer after, like, two weeks. Family emergency, he said.”

“He keeps getting close to One for All users,” said Toshinori. “But he doesn’t... Stick around...” He rubbed his chin. “Was this before or after Nana got One for All?”

“Not long after,” said Gran. 

“I met him _before._ For Izuku he would have been someone he’d just met in the park for an hour or two...”

“Actually,” said Izuku, “I think I’ve seen him before.”

“What?”

“It didn’t really connect, because of the age difference, but... I think I met him when I was in elementary school. At least, someone like him. It’s blurry.”

The three of them stared down at the picture. 

“This is too freaking weird,” said Gran. “What the hell does he even want?”

“He has to be working for All for One with that many quirks,” said Toshinori, slowly, as if he didn’t really want to believe it. “Ice control, quirk sensing, vanishing into thin air, longevity...”

“Not necessarily,” said Izuku, tapping the side of his finger thoughtfully to his lips. “If he’s really got a time traveling friend, then everything else about his quirk lines up, more or less. Temperature control linked to the power of the quirks around him... it’s a bit strange, but all quirks are, really.”

“Time travel,” repeated Gran Torino.

“It isn’t impossible,” insisted Izuku. “And it would explain why he wants to help us, too. If he’s from the future and knows about All for One and One for All. It would make sense. And he didn’t hurt Nana, or you, or me.”

Toshinori and Gran did not look convinced. 

“Even so,” said Toshinori, “I don’t think we should trust him. If you see him again, get help.”

“Yeah,” said Izuku, looking down at the smiling face of Danny Fenton. “I will.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where am I going with this? I don't know.

The roof of the dorms was, maybe, not the best place to go when he needed time to think alone. Actually, it was definitely not the best place to go, especially when he was already depressed, considering other... connotations school rooftops had for him. 

But he needed to think. Think about his internship... Nighteye... _Eri._ If there was something he could’ve done... if he was _worthy..._

“He’s wrong, you know.”

Izuku whipped around to see Daniel Fenton sitting cross-legged on top of the roof’s stairwell house. 

“Fenton-san,” said Izuku, cursing himself for leaving his phone in his room. 

The boy made a face. “Wow, that’s way, way too formal for me, Midoriya-san. I’m originally from America, you know. Call me Danny.” 

Izuku pursed his lips. “All Might doesn’t trust you,” said Izuku. 

“That’s fair,” said Fenton. “I’d be suspicious of me, too.” Fenton looked up at the darkening sky. “I mean, some dude popping up periodically to help with no obvious benefit to themselves is kind of shady. Especially when you’ve got a two-hundred-year-old supervillain after you.”

“Supervillain.”

“Yeah,” said Fenton, shrugging. “What else would you call him?”

Izuku bit his lip. The term was archaic, a holdover from before everyone had quirks, but it was _accurate_.

“If you’re really on our side,” said Izuku, “why all the games? Why not just _say_ who you are and what you’re doing?”

Fenton raised his eyebrows. “Time travel’s not all that believable,” he said. “Besides, I have rules I have to follow.”

“Rules?”

“Rules,” confirmed Fenton, nodding. “Like I said, I have a boss. Sort of. He’s in charge of me, anyway.”

“Rules like what?” pressed Izuku. “What happens if you break them? You wind up never being born?”

To Izuku’s surprise, Fenton began to laugh, almost hard enough to fall off the roof. “No,” he said, when he got control of himself, “but good guess. I did unperson myself once. Not pleasant! But, this isn’t even my timeline. I don’t have to worry about that.”

“Then why _not_ help more? Why not warn All Might about All for One?”

“Like I said, rules. And they aren’t to protect me.” He sucked in his bottom lip, then let it go. “We aren’t ready for this conversation. You’ve only-” He cut himself off, and shook his head. “The sports festival. You saw the ghosts?”

“How did you-?” Izuku cut himself off. 

“Yeah,” said Fenton running his hand through his hair. “We’re not ready for that conversation. It isn’t what I’m here for.”

“Then what _are_ you here for?”

“Nighteye,” said Fenton. “That’s what I opened with, right? He’s wrong.”

“About what?”

“Pft. I’d need to make an itemized list. The nature of time, how his quirk works, you, Eri-”

“You know about Eri?”

“Yeah.”

“How long?”

“A while.”

Izuku clenched his fists. “Then why didn’t you _say_ anything? Why aren’t you _helping_ her?”

“How do you know I’m not?”

“She’s still with Overhaul!”

Fenton tilted his head. “Okay. You have a point there. But, like...” Fenton looked away and sighed. “How do you think she got _out?”_

_“_ Are you saying you got her out? Just for what? So she’d run into me?”

“Basically,” said Danny. “You can’t, ugh...” He rubbed his eyes. “Show of good faith. Eri’s quirk is time-related. You’re going to need it to beat Overhaul. I was kind of hoping you’d get the fight over with in the alley, but that would have had downsides, too. Nighteye’s quirk- Don’t trust it. He’s already been proven wrong.”

“All Might surviving.”

“Yeah. That, too. Not that I’m saying he’s lying, he’s just... He’s wrong. And even if Toshnori-kun was the first one of you I met, you’re the reason I’m doing this at all. You’re _definitely_ worthy. And...” He trailed off. “I really shouldn’t say this, _now,_ but... Toshinori-kun. The way he gets, you know... Bigger. You don’t do that. At least not...” He trailed off again. “I need you to think about that. And _why,_ when it’s the same quirk.” He smiled. “I have to go, now. But I’ll see you again. Soon, probably.” He waved. “Bye-”

Izuku was alone on the roof.


	5. Chapter 5

“Shigaraki-san.”

Kazuki jumped, but calmed when he saw who it was. “Really, you don’t have to call me that,” said Kazuki. “It feels unfair when you ask me to call you Danny-kun.”

“Hey, I’m just trying to be polite,” said Danny, sitting next to Kazuki on the bench. 

“How do you always find me, anyway?”

Danny shrugged. “Pocky?” he offered. 

“Thanks,” said Kazuki. He nibbled on the candy for a moment. “You know why I’m here, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” said Danny, shrugging. “You’re worried about the future, right? Wondering if what you and Ryuji-san are doing is going to pay off, if he and the future bearers will be able to stop your brother. If they’ll be able to put an end to this. If you’re actually helping, or just making things worse, both for people with quirks and those without.”

“Maybe,” muttered Kazuki. “But, like, more specifically.” He nodded at the government building across the street. 

“Hmm,” said Danny, smiling faintly, “maybe. Don’t worry about Ryuji-san. He’ll be fine.”

Kazuki sighed. “What is your quirk, anyway? Some kind of future sight?”

“Nope. I know a guy like that, though.”

“I’m going to figure it out one of these days,” said Kazuki. 

Danny laughed. “Would you believe me if I told you I don’t have a quirk?” he asked. 

Kazuki stopped staring at the government building to favor Danny with a flat stare. “Not a chance.”

“Well,” said Danny, “I guess at that point, the question would be what _is_ a quirk?”

“Isn’t that the million dollar question?” mumbled Kazuki.

“Not really. I know the answer, but it’s basically worthless. No one would believe it.”

“Try me,” said Kazuki. “I mean, I believed you when you told me I could pass my quirk on.”

“That was something you could test. This? Not so much.”

“I think you’ve earned some suspension of disbelief from me.”

“Probably,” agreed Danny. 

“And I’ve earned some answers.”

“Sure, but do you want them to be for philosophical questions, or...?” Danny trailed off, raising an eyebrow.

“You’re a pain, you know that?” 

“Hey, I learned from the best.”

“Seriously.”

Danny picked at the the flap of the Pocky box, separating the paper label from the cardboard. “I know you have questions,” he said, finally, softly, “and I know I keep dodging them, but... You’re going to be mad at me, when you get the answers. If you believe me at all.”

“As long as you aren’t working for my brother or the government, I’m not sure what there is to be mad at you about,” said Kazuki. “I’m a vigilante that breaks laws on a daily basis and I interact with even shadier people than you pretty regularly.”

“Even shadier, huh?” asked Danny, grinning. 

“Come on, at least tell me how you knew I could pass on my quirk.” If Danny _was_ somehow working for Kazuki’s brother... Kazuki didn’t even know what he’d do. It wasn’t like he and Danny were really _close,_ not like him and Ryuji, but he’d been a relible friend and ally in this mess. 

“Oh,” said Danny. “Uh. I’m a time traveler.”

“What.”

“Yeah. It’s not my quirk. I’ve got a friend that can do it. Well, boss more than friend, but, yeah. Time travel. Yep.”

“Then- What- You- You can’t just _drop_ that on a person!” Kazuki pressed a hand to his chest, feeling his heartrate soar to an unhealthy tempo. Breathing exercises. In, out... Slowly... “So you know,” he said finally, “when we finally... When this finally ends.”

“It doesn’t _quite_ work that way,” said Danny. “Branching paths and all that. There’s always a chance-”

“Please, Danny.”

Danny sucked in his lips. “Eight is the first one to win a significant victory. I haven’t met anyone after him, yet. Actually, I met him first.”

“Are you pulling my leg?”

“I _told_ you that you wouldn’t believe me.” Danny drew his legs up onto the bench and hugged his knees. Like this, he looked so much younger. 

“It isn’t that I don’t believe you,” said Kazuki. “It’s just... a lot.”

“Heh. Yeah. It is kind of... big.”

“At least you don’t have anything to do with my brother, if you’re from the future.”

Danny was silent. 

“... Right?”

“I’m not working for him,” said Danny. “But I did, um, meet him once and I kinda... Ugh, it’s complicated. I didn’t really _screw up_ , per se, but I didn’t think through the consequences of my actions, and I’m sort of... trying to make up for that.” He made a vague, encompassing gesture with his hands before letting them rest on his knees. 

That wasn’t as bad as Kazuki had feared, but still. “Did you give him future knowledge or save him from a car crash or something?”

“Not exactly,” said Danny. “It’s still something I have to take responsibility for.”

“Okay,” said Kazuki, “but what _was_ it?”

“If I tell you, it’ll set off a chain reaction that’ll lead to your brother experimenting with something incredibly disturbing about fifty years too soon.”

“Really?” 

“According to my time traveling friend, yes. And the last time I didn’t listen to him, I sort of unpersoned myself, so.”

“I guess that would be a deterrent.”

“Yep. Also, Ryuji’s about to blow something up, and you should really help him with that.”

The explosion of the government building sent Izuku shooting up in bed. Disoriented, he rolled out, onto the floor of his darkened dorm room. It took him several minutes to recover from... whatever that had been. One of First’s memories?

First had known Fenton. First believed Fenton was a time traveler. 

Izuku groped for his dream notebook. He’d had a few dreams like this, so far, and he was trying to keep track of everything he’d learned. 

He finished just as his hand started to cramp up. He shook it out.

Fenton was a time traveler. A time traveler who claimed to be on the side of One for All, but who had done something for All for One significant enough that he was traveling through time to fix it. 

Assuming he was telling the truth, Fenton had met Toshinori-san before First. But not Izuku. Was the order on Fenton’s side important? Or did it not matter because of the time travel?

Complicated. He needed to talk to Toshinori-san about this. 


	6. Chapter 6

Danny tread carefully. He wasn’t the best student, but the lessons he learned tended to stick. He wasn’t sure he had any right to be here, but certain preparations had to be made, and this was the best way to make them. 

Mist chased itself around his sneakers as he walked. He could feel the living presence of Toshinori and Midoriya like a pulse through the darkness. They were both sleeping, but neither was _here_. Thankfully. 

If he kept walking, eventually he’d encounter one of the ghosts-- ghosts of ghosts, really, considering what happened to them-- that made up One for All. _Vestiges,_ some of the past users had called them. It wasn’t a wholly inaccurate name and considering that they were the ones doing the naming...

“Danny?”

He stopped and turned. “Hi, Kazuki,” he said, softly. 

“How are you here?” asked the shade of his friend. 

“It’s complicated,” said Danny.

“Isn’t everything, with you?” Kazuki stepped closer. “You know, I showed Nine a memory of you.” He crossed his arms. “Your timelines don’t match up.”

Danny cringed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. I was wondering if you guys would notice that.”

“Nine certainly has.”

“Yeah.” Danny looked away. 

“So, what is it? You never met my brother before you met Nine, or you met him once before meeting Nine?”

“I’m going to be honest, until recently I didn’t know that _Midoriya-san’s_ All for One and _your_ brother were the same guy.”

Kazuki regarded him with an incredulous look. “Who else could it possibly have been?”

“I don’t know,” said Danny, shrugging. “It isn’t like there are a whole lot of people who can live two hundred years, and I was _way_ off script. Plus, _you_ never called him All for One in front of me, either. Heck, wasn’t Ryuji-san the one to name _your_ quirk? Ugh, this is going to need _so_ much damage control. I’m so _unbelievably_ shady.”

“What- What did you even think the connection _was_ between One for All and All for One?”

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m dumb. Kinda figured _he’d_ passed his quirk on, too.”

“What did you think you were telling me, that the fight would go on until Eight, then?”

“Again, if _you_ had successors, it made sense that _he’d_ have successors. Just to spite you. Which he has wound up doing, apparently.”

Kazuki sighed, the ends of his hair ruffling in the mist. “ _Why_ are you here?”

“Ever hear of quirk singularity?”


	7. Chapter 7

Izuku had some expectations when he opened the door to Aizawa-sensei’s apartment. Namely, he expected Eri to be in the apartment. Just Eri, because he had been asked last-minute to look after her by Aizawa-sensei who’d been called away by a hero emergency. 

Now, Eri _was_ in the apartment. Which was good. Izuku was always slightly paranoid about leaving Eri alone for any length of time. 

Less good was-

“You!” shouted Izuku, pointing. 

“Uh,” said Danny Fenton, who was, for some reason, kneeling in front of Eri holding a large flower. “I can explain?” he said. 

“Deku!” said Eri, bouncing on the couch. “Danny’s teaching me about my quirk!”

“Or she can explain. That’s good, too.”

Izuku hit the ‘time traveler panic button’ and frowned at Fenton. Fenton waved. 

“So, uh. You probably have questions. Have you seen Banjo-san yet?”

“Do you know All for One?” 

“I met him. Once. Not really my best decision. And before you say anything, I know that what I said to you and what Kazuki-san showed you about that is different.”

“Yeah? And why is that?” asked Izuku, cautiously approaching. He wanted to be between Eri and Fenton, but there wasn’t any way he could do that subtly.

“Deku?” asked Eri. 

“Don’t worry,” said Fenton. “I just worry him. Here.” He handed Eri the flower, and stepped away, almost to the other side of the apartment, between the kitchen counter and a table with a vase with decaying flowers in it. “Would you believe me if I said it was because I’m dumb?”

Izuku, mindful of the new space, put himself in front of Eri. He almost wanted to take her and run, but he wasn’t sure what Fenton was capable of. 

“Actually,” said Toshinori-san, pushing the ajar door open the rest of the way, “ _that_ part checks out.”

“Thanks Toshinori-kun, you’re a real friend,” said Fenton, flatly. “Who’s with you?”

Toshinori-san frowned, glancing at someone behind the doorframe. “The dustbin incident, for example,” he said. 

“Oh, come on, you promised not to talk about that! It wasn’t even my fault.” Fenton tilted his head. “Normally, I’d guess Sorahiko-kun was behind there, but he’s too short now... And that doesn’t feel like his quirk. Something to do with truth?”

Toshinori-san glanced to the side and shrugged. “Might as well,” he said. 

Detective Tsukauchi stepped into the apartment. 

Izuku had hoped Toshinori-san would bring someone a little more suitable for a fight. 

“You can call me Detective Tsukauchi. Although, I suppose you already knew that, being a time traveler.”

“That’s not really how this works,” said Fenton. 

“Then how _does_ it work?”

Fenton looked back at Izuku. “It’s related to the whole ‘I’m dumb’ thing from earlier. It’s, ah.” He glanced at Eri and then Detective Tsukauchi. “The person that we were talking about, the one who the discrepancy was about, I didn’t realize they were the same person until later.”

“How can you know so much about One for All, and not _that?”_

“My boss is the one that has all the answers, not me.”

“That’s a lie.”

Fenton frowned. “Well, I guess... It would be better to say _Clockwork_ has all the answers, not me. He’s not _really_ my boss.”

Detective Tsukauchi nodded. Izuku made note of the name. It was clearly an alias, but he doubted they’d get anything more concrete from Fenton.

“So what _is_ your relationship?” asked Toshinori-san. 

“He’s... sort of my guardian. My mentor.” Fenton shrugged. “It’s a long story and not relevant. The thing is, everything is a lesson with him. As much as this is a learning experience for you, it’s a learning experience for me.”

“When _did_ you first meet All for One?” demanded Izuku. 

“Ah... From my perspective? About a month before I met Toshinori-kun. I didn’t realize it at the time, thought. I thought that when I joined Toshinori-kun’s school was my first time in this timeline.”

“And what did you _do?”_

Fenton made a face. “The details of that aren’t safe. But, um, the basics are that I got lost, someone asked me for help, and I gave it.”

“Not safe for who?” asked Detective Tsukauchi. 

“You guys, mostly. I can always just not come back.”

“Did this Clockwork send you to All for One as well?” asked Toshinori. His tone was bland and even, but Izuku could tell that there was a lot of anger behind his eyes. 

“I- Look. I _will_ answer that, just... Let me say a few things first?” Fenton’s hands, still in a half-raised position, twitched in an aborted gesture. “ _First,_ I genuinely mean no harm to anyone here. I don’t think Clockwork does, either. Second... Midoriya-san, did you think about what I asked you, last time? Why Toshinori-kun’s shape changed when he was using One for All, but yours doesn’t?”

Izuku bit his lip, wondering if he should answer. He’d talked about it with Toshinori-san a few times, but he’d never said the explanation he’d come up with out loud. 

But his curiosity was a bit too great to resist. 

“It was his quirk, wasn’t it?” he asked. “One for All made him develop his own quirk.”

“ _Bingo,”_ said Fenton. “I mean, you did talk to Banjo-san, right? At this point?”

Izuku nodded, slowly. 

“Great. Like, because of that, you might be able to do the shapeshifting _eventually,_ but, more importantly, you can’t move in that space, can you? When you can...”

“That body,” said Izuku, “it’s not me, it’s my quirk being put together.”

“Basically, yeah.”

Had this been a year ago, Izuku would have been thrilled. Now, however... He really had enough on his plate.

“You know what it’s going to be, don’t you?”

“I have guesses,” said Fenton. “But, no, I don’t know.”

“You said you’d answer my question,” said Toshinori-san. 

“Right. Yes. Well.” Fenton took a deep breath. “I don’t know.”

“If he sent you to that time-” started Toshinori.

“I don’t know if it was even him that did _that_ part,” said Fenton. “He _might_ have, but he usually gives me a warning. No. It’s... ugh. Here.” He reached over to the vase and plucked out one of the flowers. Light warped oddly around it and his hand, and when everything was clear again, the dahlia was as vibrant as it had been the day it was picked. “Eri and Clockwork aren’t the only ones with time powers.” He smiled at the little girl who was still hiding behind Izuku. “Mine works a little differently, though.”

“You do have multiple quirks, then,” said Toshinori-san. “What did you do, to get All for One to give you them?”

“I didn’t get _anything_ from him,” said Fenton, sharply, “except for a promise that he broke basically immediately.” He muttered something under his breath. “My powers- I’m not even sure they can be called a quirk.”

Izuku couldn’t help but look at Tsukauchi, who looked... confused. But not like he was being lied to.

“I didn’t get them _from_ anybody, I wasn’t _born_ with them, they weren’t _inherited_. I didn’t have them until I was fourteen. They were an _accident_. Like I told you I’m not _from_ this timeline. There are _no quirks_ in my timeline, and only two other people even _remotely_ like me, and-” He took a deep breath. “Sorry. I’m ranting. I have to go, soon, your teacher is almost back. Last question.”

“Why are you here?” asked Izuku. It was probably stupid, considering the two adults in the room.

“Um. I thought that was obvious? To help Eri with her quirk. It would be really irresponsible of me to leave things like they were.” He gave Eri a thumbs up. “Don’t forget, little sister, it isn’t a curse. And it’ll be a while, a long while, but you’ll get to meet Clockwork, and it’ll be _super coo-”_

 _“_ And... He’s gone,” said Izuku, sagging. 

“At least we learned more?” said Toshinori-san.

“I-”

Aizawa-sensei skidded into the room. “What,” he demanded, “happened?”

Eri tugged on Izuku’s pant leg. “Deku? What’s One for All?”

Toshinori-san blanched. Izuku felt all the blood drain from his face.

This was going to be a problem. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! Now with much more canon divergence because I'm not caught up with anything after the joint training arc and don't really know what's going on with that whole 'war arc' or whatever. I just absorb things from fic. What canon?

"You could be _helping,"_ hissed Izuku as Fenton pulled him behind the dubious cover of a fallen building.

"I _am_ helping," shot back Fenton.

"You could have warned us."

"What makes you think I knew this was going to happen? I'm not from the future, I'm from a parallel universe! And Clockwork really needs to work on his pre-mission briefings!" The last ended in a bit of a yelp as they both dodged a piece of debris.

"Well!" said Izuku, briefly jumping into the air to avoid a wave of decay. "You could be helping more now! You could-" Another mid-air dodge, courtesy of Blackwhip. "You have time powers! And ice powers! And who knows what else powers!"

"I'm-" A series of muffled _bangs_ and the horrible metal screech of a building coming down drowned out Fenton's words. "There are rules about how much I can interfere!"

"You don't seem to have that problem with _us_!"

"You're different!"

"How?" demanded Izuku, briefly forgetting he was in the middle of a battlefield. Fenton had to yank him out of danger's way. "How am I different from everyone else who needs help here?"

"You think I don't _want_ to help? I'm feeling exactly the same thing _you_ are."

With that intensity, Izuku could almost believe him. "Then why-"

"Because I don't want to make it _worse."_

 _"_ That's all you heroes _ever_ do."

They looked up.

"Shigaraki Tomura, I presume?" said Fenton, coolly.

"You..." said Shigaraki. The same light that had been in his eyes when he called Izuku 'little brother' was present. He _recognized_ Fenton. "Stop getting in my way."

"Or what?" scoffed Danny. "You're going to use that decay quirk to tear me apart molecule by molecule? I haven't been threatened with that in a while."

Izuku's radio chirped. " _-mass breakout from Tartarus-"_

He had just enough time to think _just what we need_ before Shigaraki began growing _spikes_ that started shooting at them and everything was chaos again. He wanted to use Float again, gain the positional advantage, but he couldn't leave Fenton, as annoying as he was, alone down here.

"Hey! Don't worry about me!" shouted Fenton, as if reading his mind. "You _know_ I'm not a one-trick pony!"

He had a point. Izuku dialed up full cowl by another percent- making his bones _creak_ under the strain, and bounced his to Shigaraki, using Float to make not-quite-footholds.

Shigaraki seemed to have quite a lot of strain on his body as well. To the point of horror. His skin was _cracking,_ and showing- It didn't bear thinking about.

The point was, he was moving slowly, and Izuku had a clear window to punch him right in the-

Izuku's fist disappeared into a black portal. With the momentum behind him, the rest of him soon followed. He was deposited on the ground next to Fenton, who had stopped moving and was staring up at Shigaraki and Kurogiri.

"What is _that_?" asked Fenton. Izuku didn't know how to interpret his tone. Was he talking about Kurogiri? Izuku would think that what was happening to Shigaraki was more noticeable and terrible than Kurogiri's admittedly extensive mutation.

But, no, Fenton was looking at Kurogiri.

" _Ancients,"_ he whispered, in English.

This was evidently as long a rest as Shigaraki and Kurogiri were going to give them, because they were soon dodging Shigaraki's attacks again, only now Kurogiri was portaling them so they had to dodge them two, three, five, seven times.

"I changed my mind," announced Fenton.

"What?" shouted Izuku, glancing at him. Were Fenton's eyes green?

"Changed my mind! I _absolutely_ have a right to interfere with this- this _desecration."_

"Great! Can you _hurry up_?"

Forgive him for not being polite, but there were quite a few lives at risk here. Including his. Fenton needed to get in gear and-

Predictably, he vanished.

Wonderful. At least Izuku only had to worry about protecting himself, now, unless he ran into other heroes or civilians.

Not that he'd be alive to do that.

As soon as the thought went through Izuku's head, Fenton had the audacity to _re_ appear right in front of Kurogiri. Great. Fine. Good to know he could do that.

"Shirakumo Oboro!" said Fenton, loud enough to be heard over all the sounds of destruction. "You're one of _mine!"_


	9. Chapter 9

He almost didn’t hear it. 

Even small fights could be noisy. Battles at this scale were deafening, even when the quirks involved weren’t. Between Hizashi, Bakugo, Kaminari, Jiro, various giants, _Endeavor_ , the nomu, and whatever had happened to Shigaraki, there were _plenty_ of loud, flashy quirks.

But Shouta wasn’t sure a noise level existed that would keep him from hearing _that_ name. Not while leaving his eardrums intact.

“ _Shirakumo Oboro, you’re one of mine!”_

That wasn’t Hizashi, or Nemuri. Who else could-?

His distraction nearly cost him a leg, and he was barely able to dodge back at the last second. He clenched his teeth. Getting distracted was illogical, as much as he hated to admit it. 

_One_ noumu had nearly killed him. He might have backup this time around that wasn’t untrained children, but...

He threw himself back into the fight. When he caught sight of Hizashi and Nemuri, they looked similarly conflicted. Similarly _furious._

Then black cracked like lightning through the battlefield, depositing Kurogiri ( _Oboro_ ) and Midoriya’s time traveler, because _of course_ this situation wasn’t complicated enough as it was. 

Fenton landed on his feet, but forwent any advantage this gave him by looking around at the nomu and loudly complaining, “There’s _more_ of them? Who did this?”

“Pest...” growled Kurogiri, strain evident in his voice. “You will find your doom with-”

“Oh, come on. I know about the USJ and your big dramatic speech there. You haven’t killed anyone in your unlife.”

One of the nomu decided to avoid Shouta, who was trying to move his fight closer to Kurogiri and Fenton, and lunge straight at the boy. Shouta could see the moment Fenton saw it, and time slowed down as Shouta watched, because no matter how many quirks the kid had, he wasn’t _moving._

There was a flash of light. 

Bits of burnt flesh pelted Shouta, and he hated the fact that he knew what that felt like. 

“I could do that to you, too,” Fenton announced as Shouta tried to clear his vision enough to use his quirk again. “But I don’t want to, if I don’t have to. I can tell, you were _awake_ before, Shirakumo Oboro, and you can be again.”

At first, Shouta thought that something must be badly wrong with his eyes, because the time traveler had _changed._ His hair was white, his eyes were toxic green, and he was wearing something that almost looked like a hero costume. His attention was yanked away by the largest of the remaining nomu coming after him again. It was smart- used tactics, struck for weak spots, kept coming after him when he blinked, or when he was distracted. 

“The rest of these, they’re not meant to have stayed, and what happened to them, it’s terrible. But you’re different.”

Shouta caught glimpses of the fight out of the corner of his eye. The time traveler could, in addition to manipulating time like Eri, apparently fly. And shoot lasers from his hands. And turn invisible. And throw punches through solid concrete. And make ice. All of which he used whenever a nomu made the mistake of _interrupting his conversation._ It was like he was an amalgam of all the most frustrating students in his classes, and he wished the kid’s mysterious mentor all the luck in controlling a student like that. 

“It must be terrible- There’s _six_ of you in there, at least, and only one who should be anything even close to this. Like the only one who can swim, and all the drowning clinging to him- I’m so sorry.” 

Fenton was purposefully speaking clearly, pitching his voice to carry to his opponent. Kurogiri was not. Whatever response he had was lost. 

“This place is so strange _,_ with everyone’s ghost tied to their body- I haven’t been hanging around deaths, but they cling, don’t they? How would these be made, otherwise?” the questions were breathless. “You were still- But you stayed on purpose, and you were awake. I can see that. Why? Why are you here?”

“I exist,” Kurogiri said, his mist moving erratically, “I was created, to serve-”

“That’s a lie. What _happened_ when you died? What was so important for you to do, that you woke up, still in your own corpse?”

Against his will, Shouta’s mind flashed back to that night, and-

The nomu clipped his shoulder and sent him flying. He felt his bones cave under the pressure, and his backwards flight was suddenly arrested by the nomu grabbing his capture weapon. He drew his emergency knife with his still working hand, and sliced through the fabric. 

His radio crackled to life. 

“ _Shouta! Duck!”_

He obeyed without thinking, and narrowly avoided having his head knocked off by a piece of rubble thrown by the nomu. That voice. That voice on a radio, coming through when it had no right to. 

“You know each other?” asked Fenton, tilting his head. “Oh. I think I understand.”

The nomu moved again. Shouta was slower, down a limb and half his capture weapon.

“Are you going to let this happen without doing anything? Are you going to stay asleep? Bound to the will of someone who would destroy what you exist for?” Behind the nomu, he saw Kurogiri go down under Fenton’s hand, pinned to the ground. “Shirakumo Oboro, why are you _here_?”

Shouta practically felt Kurogiri’s inhale from all the way over here. The nomu stepped forward

Static from the radio. “ _Shouta! You... can do it!”_

He shuffled the knife in his grip and surveyed the scene. Getting distracted like that... He’d told himself it was going to get him hurt. 

His partners, his friends, his students, all the civilians... Getting beaten down by just one enemy when everyone was relying on him and his quirk was the very height of irrationality. 

“ _You can protect... everyone, Shota. You’ve got what it takes!_ ”

At first glance, the nomu had no weaknesses, the massive body making up for Shouta’s ability to cancel its quirk, but in reality... 

The nomu charged. Shouta kept his eyes on it, until it was only inches away- Then he blinked. The sudden return of its quirks made it overcompensate, and Shouta was inside its guard, his knife angling up. 

He knew this wouldn’t be enough. 

“ _I know... for a fact! You’re strong! You won’t lose! You can do it, Shouta!”_

Capture weapon, eyes open again, had to be fast, had to be- There. A loop around the nomu’s ankle, and a piece of rebar in his hand- It couldn’t regenerate like this, but Shouta had to kill it in one go. 

Up. Down. 

Fenton laughed. “That’ll do it!” 

Shouta turned in time to see Fenton plunge his hand into Kurogiri’s- _Oboro’s-_ chest. Kurogiri disintegrated. 

“No!” shouted Hizashi, just as far from Fenton, but on the other side. 

But something else was happening. A form coalesced from the remaining mist. Dress shirt and suit vest, but that _hair_ -

“Shirakumo,” he said. 

The battle was still going. Once again, he made the choice to turn away. He’d said to protect everyone _,_ after all. He’d- He’d understand. 

There were still nomu to fight. Still civilians trying to evacuate. 

He spread his gaze out again, canceling the quirks of all the nomu and villains he could see. His head and eyes throbbed with the strain. He saw the moment another group of nomu realized what he was doing, and broke off from the larger battle to hunt him down. 

Well. He still had half a capture weapon. 

The first of the nomu bore down on him, only to be intercepted by a neon green bo staff that sent it flying. 

“Right,” said Fenton, stepping up alongside Shirakumo, “there’s sure a lot of these guys, huh?” 

Shirakumo blinked down at his weapon, looking as dazed as Shouta felt. 

“Well, I’m pretty sure they fall under my jurisdiction, so to speak, so... we’ll just take care of these, and then I can, um, explain things better. Okay?”

“Shirakumo,” said Shouta, reaching out, even though he was too far away to touch. 

He looked back, meeting Shouta’s gaze with bright yellow eyes. His brows pinched together, and his lips moved without making a sound. Then he shook his head and looked back at the nomu. 

The message was clear. 

First things first. 


	10. Chapter 10

Shouta had spent more time in the hospital this year than he had in the entire rest of his career combined. Considering how dumb he’d been as a new graduate and how quickly he usually tried to leave the hospital (to the horror of Hizashi and his students), that painted a rather grim picture. 

He leaned back against the bed and let his eyes drift closed. Visiting hours were over, now. His students had all been sent back home or back to their rooms. 

Today, no, these last _two_ days, the actual battle had been yesterday, had been... well. At least no one had lost any limbs. Not even Midoriya. Although the coma was arguably worse. 

Fenton and Shirakumo had _not_ stuck around. Despite Fenton’s promises of an explanation, which, in retrospect, had probably been for Shirakumo, not Shouta.

It was frustrating, to say the least. 

Shouta wasn’t even sure what Fenton had done. Clearly, he hadn’t rolled back Shirakumo’s time, like Eri might have. Shirakumo had never had yellow eyes. Those belonged to Kurogiri. Except they didn’t, because Kurogiri didn’t have irises or sclera, and those had both been quite clear yesterday. But Shouta didn’t know what else could break through a decade and a half of brainwashing and programming and who knew what else.

Shouta didn’t know if Shirakumo had traded one master for another. 

Perhaps he would have been more at ease if Shirakumo had spoken to him at all, but beyond the radio (which may very well have been another _wonderful_ hallucination) he had been silent. It was, to say the least, extremely uncharacteristic. But considering what had been done to him- Years of trauma would change a person. Maybe it was characteristic. 

(Fenton’s words suggested that Shirakumo _had_ been speaking to him, back on that awful day. Somehow. It didn’t make sense.)

The door opened, and Shouta tensed, reaching for the call button. He had injuries he hadn’t learned how to compensate for, yet, and his weapons were stored elsewhere, but if any villain was breaking in, he’d be sure to give them-

Oh. 

“Hi,” said Fenton, walking in. Shirakumo lingered in the doorway behind him, before offering up a hesitant grin and flashing a victory sign. 

In the heat of the battle, it had gone over his head, but both of them looked so young. Almost the same age as his students. He flashed his quirk at them, just for the split second he could. No change. At least they weren’t Toga.

“So,” said Shouta. He hadn’t decided whether or not to push the button to call for help, yet. Technically, Shirakumo was a villain. One that had escaped from Tartarus, no less. “Care to explain?”

Fenton had the gall to look sheepish. “If I’m not whisked away before I get anywhere important, sure.”

Shouta gave the pair of them a glare he usually reserved for his students. Shirakumo looked away, sticking his hands into the pockets of his vest, and Fenton hunched his shoulders and slid into a chair. 

“Where do you want to start?”

How was he supposed to even begin to prioritize? His eyes fell on Shirakumo. 

“How are you...” he gestured, hopelessly. _Alive. Here. So young. “_ How,” he settled, “are you?”

Shirakumo opened his mouth, closed it again, and held up a finger before starting to search his pockets. 

“Uh, yeah,” said Fenton. “There are consequences to, well, everything. Side effects.” He waved a hand at Shirakumo. “Especially when you’re cheating death.”

“That didn’t seem to be a problem before.”

Shirakumo let out a breathless _hah!_ of triumph and held up a pocket radio. “ _It wasn’t me before_!” 

Shouta blinked slowly at the device and then at Shirakumo. He was, Shouta noticed, wearing the fingerless gloves that had once been part of his hero costume. They paired oddly with the formalwear. “What?”

“ _Kurogiri wasn’t me! Well, he was, but... not? It’s hard to explain... You were always better at this kind of thing_.” Shirakumo shrugged. 

“I... The important thing is that you’re you,” he said. 

“ _Yeah_!” agreed Shirakumo, pumping his fist. 

“We really needed to let your parents know-

“ _No_ ,” said Shirakumo. 

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Fenton said. “All things considered.”

“But everything you did, Shirakumo, it-”

“ _Actually, can you call me Cloud? Names are... weird right now_.”

“Yeah, I mean, I’m okay with my original name, but our circumstances are slightly different.”

Shouta held his breath for two long beats. “Sure,” he said, “I can do that. Fenton-san, are you saying that you were also a nomu?” It would certainly explain his eclectic abilities and how he had brought back Shirakumo.

“No, gross. And call me Danny, really. I didn’t even know they were a thing, but I guess it explains what Clockwork meant by ‘start researching something dangerous fifty years too soon.’ Didn’t Midoriya-san and Toshinori-kun tell you about me?”

His student. Yes. They had. Reluctantly, Shouta tabled his questions about Shira- about Cloud. He looked... alright. It was Midoriya who was in danger at the moment. 

“You know what’s going on with Midoriya’s quirk, don’t you?” he asked. “You know what’s happening with One for All, and why he wont wake up.”

“Yes,” said Fenton, after a moment. “So, they did tell you about it.”

“Well?” prompted Shouta, irritably. 

Fenton made a face. “In simple terms? He’s buffering. It’s- His quirk jumped forward a few places, yesterday. You saw it, didn’t you?”

“The flying? Yes.”

“It was more than that,” said Fenton. “But... yeah. It’s a combination of quirk exhaustion, his injuries, and, uhm, One for All trying to load him, basically. He’ll be fine.”

“Why are you so fixated on him, anyway? Midoriya showed me his notes. It’s more than just him being the next One for All user.”

Fenton’s eyes flicked up and down Shouta’s length, assessing. “Are you sure you want me to answer that? You can’t unknow it.”

“I’m sure.”

“Okay, well. Someday,” said Fenton, “Midoriya is going to be like me. Like us, really,” he gestured at himself and Cloud, who waved. “I always wanted someone to have been there for me, so... And it’s my fault he’s even in this position to begin with.”

“And,” said Shouta, marveling at how quickly they had come back to the topic, “what are you two exactly?”

“ _We’re dead_!” said Cloud, still speaking through the radio. 

“No, you’re not,” said Shouta. 

“I mean, it isn’t _wrong,_ per se,” said Fenton, rubbing his face. “It was his body, you saw back there.”

“ _Ehhhh, can we not talk about that_?”

“Sorry,” said Fenton. “The best way to put it.... Have you ever heard of quirk singularity?”

“Are you saying your quirks went through singularity?” Because they had multiple quirks combined... although, nothing had ever indicated that Kurogiri had a quirk that allowed him to treat radios like that. 

“Kind of,” said Fenton. “Better to say we _are_ the quirks. Sort of. It’s complicated.” He rocked a hand back and forth. “They’re... quirks are connected to a person’s consciousness, right? But, they’re also attached to the body. When a person dies, their quirk still lingers for a while after.”

“ _That’s what happened to me_!” said Cloud, raising his hand. “ _When that rubble hit me, I was dead right away, but I had to do something_!”

“Right, he woke up and reached out the only way he could. Radio.”

“But,” said Shouta, “your quirk didn’t do anything like that.”

“Singularity,” said Fenton, shrugging. “Quirks... are a lot more than you think they are. It changed, because that’s what he had to do.”

“ _I can still make clouds, though, don’t worry_!” said Cloud, spinning one off his finger. 

“You’re saying, Midoriya is going to die.”

“ _Eventually_ , yes. Everyone dies. Not everyone winds up like this.”

“All for One. Will he...?”

Fenton grinned, showing fangs. “If he does, you won’t have to worry about it.” The grin faded. “Unfortunately, I’m explicitly not allowed to do anything to him unless he does something to me, first, so...” Fenton shrugged, as if he didn’t just brush off defeating the greatest villain of all time as if it were nothing. 

Fenton stood up and stretch. “We’re almost out of time. Cloud, are you sure you want to stay?”

“ _I’m sure_ ,” said Cloud. “ _I still have things to do here.”_

“Well, you know how to get in touch. Remember what I said.” He turned back to Shouta, who had discretely started to thumb the nurse call button. “Don’t feel bad about Midoriya-san. He can still live out his life. Just... Help him, will you? He needs the support.”

“ _If anyone can do it, you can, Shouta_!” said Cloud, grinning like a loon. 

Fenton nodded and glanced at the clock on the wall before disappearing. 

“ _Right_!” said Cloud. “ _That’s my cue to go_.”

“I thought you were staying,” protested Shouta, as Cloud left the radio on a nearby table and went to the window. He started to get up.

“ _In this time. The place...”_ He grinned ruefully as he slid the window open and squeezed out. “ _I think you understand. Stay strong, Shouta! I believe in you_!”

“Shirakumo! Don’t-!” It was too late. He was already surfing away on a cloud. 

The nurse arrived moments later. 


	11. Chapter 11

"Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it eventually. I mean, it took me almost three months before I stopped phasing through the floor, but I think you'll probably catch on quicker."

Izuku, exhausted glared up at the time traveler. “Phasing? That’s a thing you can do, now?”

“For a while, actually, but, yes.”

“What do you want?”

“To help,” said Fenton, jumping down from the stack of gym mats to land lightly on the floor. “I thought I could offer some insight.”

“To help,” repeated Izuku. He hated being this skeptical, hated the suspicion, but everything had just been a lot, recently. “Not to wait until my quirk eats me?”

“Ouch,” said Fenton, holding up his hands defensively. “Wow. I guess that’s what I get for leaving the explaining to the guy hopped up on painkillers. Have you ever heard of the Ship of Theseus?”

“So I’m being replaced? That isn’t any better!”

“No, no, aw, heck. Um. People change over time, you know. It isn’t- I’m not doing this very well, am I? I mean. You’re not going to be _eaten_. You’ll be more like me than Cloud, and even if you weren’t you’d still be you. A person is connected to their quirk until they die. It’s like... Like you’re saving a document on the cloud and on a hard drive.”

“That was completely nonsensical.” That was a lie. It had made a disturbingly large amount of sense and he had the vague sense that the vestiges were in the back of his head nodding along. 

“Yeah, I’m sorry. This whole thing isn’t one that makes sense in, uh, the most traditional of senses. But I am trying to help. I remember what it was like, when it happened to me.” He tapped his fingers together. 

“You said you didn’t have a quirk.”

Fenton hunched his shoulders. “The underlying principles are the same.” He bit his lower lips. “You haven’t called anyone this time.”

“It wouldn’t matter if I did, would it?” Izuku crossed his arms and leaned back on one foot. 

“I’m sorry,” said Fenton. “I know I’ve been playing up the mysterious angle, but... It isn’t on purpose. What can I do to make it up to you?”

Argghhhh. He was making it really hard to stay angry. 

“Well, first, you can tell me what you are. What you _really_ are.” Because even if Aizawa-sensei and Toshinori-san thought he was some kind of quirk vestige given form, he didn’t quite buy it. There was something else going on. 

Fenton looked down. “Okay, I can do that.” 

Izuku was suddenly hit with a wave of guilt. Fenton did look like a middle schooler. Even if he was older. Maybe. Izuku wondered how that worked. Emotionally, was he still a kid? It looked like it, but-

“I’m a ghost.”

“What.”

“A ghost. That’s what we call ourselves. The rest of us. In, um, the parallel universe we’re from.”

“Ghosts,” said Toshinori-san, who’d been coming to meet Izuku for training anyway, hence why he didn’t bother with the time traveler panic button. His gym bag dangled from his hand. Izuku hadn’t noticed him come in. Probably because he was too thrown by the whole ‘ghosts’ thing.

“Yes,” said Fenton, looking like he had expected this, “aaand, you probably don’t want to hear this, but... that’s what quirks are. They’re ghosts. Your ghosts in particular, which is why One for All and All for One work the way they do.”

“Because they’re ghosts.”

“Right. Well, I’m technically a half ghost. We’re... much less common.”

Izuku pressed his hands together in a praying motion in front of his mouth, then pointed them at Fenton. “Okay,” said Izuku. “I’m going to admit, I wouldn’t have believed that without going through all this other craziness first. So, you not saying anything is more reasonable than it initially felt like.”

“No,” said Danny, “there’s always a lesson with Clockwork. If I should have trusted anyone... It should have been you two. I’ve just... Never told anyone the whole story before.”

“We weren’t especially predisposed to trust ourselves,” started Toshinori-san.

“No, Toshi-kun,” said Fenton. “I’ve been really, really untrustworthy. Keeping secrets about you guys.”

“To be frank, you are not the only one who had to learn that lesson,” said Toshinori-san, putting down his bag.

“Why don’t you start at the beginning?” asked Izuku.

“Right,” said Danny. “It started when I was fourteen...”


End file.
